The fifth largest cryptocurrency surges past $80 per coin

The fifth largest cryptocurrency on the market surpassed $80
per coin Friday afternoon, as more well-known digital currencies
such as bitcoin and ethereum continue to reach new heights.
Litecoin is up 12.98% since yesterday at $82.50 per coin.

Cryptocurrencies are powered by distributed ledger
technology and are not controlled by a centralized
authority. The market for these coins and tokens has
exploded this year with the total market cap for the industry now
more than $170 billion, according to data from
Coinmarketcap.com.

Litecoin came on the scene in 2013 and for most of its existence,
it has only been worth a couple bucks. On March 30, the
price of Litecoin skyrocketed 70% from about $4 per coin to $7,
according to cryptocurrency news site,
CoinDesk.

At the time, market experts attributed the spike to
litecoin's potential adoption of Segregated Witness, a
software update to increase transaction speed. Litecoin
successfully activated SegWit in May.

Aaron Lasher, the chief marketing officer of Breadwallet, a
bitcoin technology company, told Business Insider he thinks folks
are pouring into litecoin because they don't want to miss
out on the next bitcoin.

"I think it's best understood in the context of an overall
crypto bubble," Dwyer said. "The wave is so strong
that all crypto coins are riding high."

Still, Lasher wishes he hadn't sold his coins.

Oliver Isaacs, a cryptocurrency investor, told Business
Insider he sold his litecoins when they reached $77 per coin.
According to Isaacs, litecoin is among the strongest
cryptocurrencies, as it is supported by Coinbase, one of the
largest exchanges, and has a stable infrastructure.

"It has faster transactions enabled compared to bitcoin (2
minutes compared to 100 minutes) and a limited supply," he
said.

Bitcoin recently surpassed $4,800, up over 700% since 2016.
Ether, the token powering the ethereum blockchain, is up 3,300%
during the same time period.